Unbroken

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resiliance, and Redemption
by Laura Hillenbrand
5 Stars
WWII, Nonfiction: Memoir
Setting: USA, Japan
473pages
Published 2010

Ellie's Review
While I enjoy historical fiction because it’s an interesting way to learn, Unbroken astonished me with true facts of the World War II experience of Louis Zamperini.  His story is so astonishing that fiction would not have been as fascinating.  Across the globe from the Nazis, Zamperini’s World War II service was in the Pacific fighting the Japanese.  I learned so much about this part of the world during WWII and realized I had previously focused on Europe.  Zamperini is an incredible man who was described quite aptly by my friend as someone who possesses the “Viktor Frankl gene” to stay strong and survive under horrendous circumstances.  The first 90 pages of the book were a bit slow for me, but once Zamperini’s plane went down in the ocean I was enthralled.  While I am horrified at the cruelty of the Japanese prison guards during WWII, I am inspired by Zamperini and others' ability to survive.

Book Summary
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood.  Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared.  It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a lift raft and pulling himself aboard.  So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant's name was Louis Zamperini.  In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails.  As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile.  But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to the doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.  Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion.  His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit.  Telling an unforgettable story of a man's journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

I used the discussion questions on Lit Lovers for my book club.

I made the cupcakes on the right to snack on while we discussed this amazing book.  On top of the blue wave frosting were gummy fish, life savers (powered sugar mini donuts with licorice), buoys (two spice drops skewered with a toothpick), and shark fins (Thin Mint cookies cut and dipped in gray frosting).  These brought some nice humor into an otherwise serious conversation!

Unaccustomed Earth

by Jhumpa Lahiri
4 Stars
Settings: USA, India
333 pages
Published 2008

Ellie's Review
Unaccustomed Earth is a collection of short stories by Indian author Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake) tells different stories of Indians from West Bengal adapting to America. While some stories I would only give 3 stars, I really enjoyed the collection as a whole. Two of the stories ended a bit abrupt - I would have liked even another paragraph in conclusion.

Book Summary
These eight stories by beloved and bestselling author Jhumpa Lahiri take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand, as they explore the secrets at the heart of family life. Here they enter the worlds of sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, friends and lovers. Rich with the signature gifts that have established Jhumpa Lahiri as one of our most essential writers, Unaccustomed Earth exquisitely renders the most intricate workings of the heart and mind.

Shanghai Girls

by Lisa See
4 Stars
Historical Fiction
Setting: China, California
309 pages
Published 2009

Ellie's Review
Shanghai Girls had a great plot mixed with interesting Chinese traditions and history. I learned a lot while being hooked on the story. This is my favorite Chinese historical fiction book I've read so far!

Book Summary
In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different: Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree . . . until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides.

The Good Earth (House of Earth #1)

by Pearl S. Buck
4 Stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
Setting: China
385 pages
Published 1931

Ellie's Review
After the initial 100 pages, I was hooked on this book and really enjoyed it. I'm glad I read this as it's a classic, but I'm sad I wasn't able to attend my book club's discussion as this has a lot to talk about. I haven't read the other books in the series.

Book Summary
Wang Lung, rising from humble Chinese farmer to wealthy landowner, gloried in the soil he worked. He held it above his family, even above his gods. But soon, between Wang Lung and the kindly soil that sustained him, came flood and drought, pestilence and revolution....
Through this one Chinese peasant and his children, Nobel Prize-winner Pearl S. Buck traces the whole cycle of life, its terrors, its passion, its persistent ambitions and its rewards. Her brilliant novel, beloved by millions of readers throughout the world, is a universal tale of the destiny of men.

Pulitzer Prize for Novel 1932

Eat, Pray, Love

by Elizabeth Gilbert
4 stars
Nonfiction: Memoir
Setting: USA, Italy, India, Indonesia
334 pages
Published 2007

Ellie's Review
Elizabeth Gilbert needed a break from life after a divorce, so she traveled in search of herself. This is a good read about a woman's search for pleasure (eating in Italy), spirituality (meditating in India), and a balance between the two (loving herself and others in Indonesia). It'll make you want to eat gelato, meditate, and hang out with medicine men. You don't have to agree with Gilbert's way of dealing with her divorce, but reading about her year abroad is quite interesting.

Book SummaryIn her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want--husband, country home, successful career--but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression, Gilbert set out to examine three different aspects of her nature, set against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

by Lisa See
4 Stars
Historical Fiction
Setting: China
269 Pages
Published 2006

Ellie's Review
This was a really interesting book that delves into the practice of foot binding. I prefer Lisa See's novels to Amy Tan's, so if you haven't read anything from See you should if you're interested in Chinese culture.

Book Summary
In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, or "old same," in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she has written a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. They both endure the agony of footbinding and together reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

The Bonesetter's Daughter

by Amy Tan
4 Stars
Historical Fiction
Setting: China and USA
353 Pages
Published in 2001

Ellie's Review
I really enjoyed this novel by Amy Tan. I've read two other novels by her, and this is my favorite. The main story line of mothers and daughters was very interesting to me, and I really liked learning more about aspects of the Chinese culture such as superstitions and ghosts.

Book Summary
At the beginning of Amy Tan's fourth novel, two packets of papers written in Chinese calligraphy fall into the hands of Ruth Young. One bundle is titled Things I Know Are True and the other, Things I Must Not Forget. The author? That would be the protagonist's mother, LuLing, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In these documents the elderly matriarch, born in China in 1916, has set down a record of her birth and family history, determined to keep the facts from vanishing as her mind deteriorates.